Visit Milwaukee Blog

Here we are, barely two weeks away from Halloween, and you still don’t have a costume. Never fear! You are not doomed to pick a cliché or obvious costume and see yourself coming and going all night. I am here to provide you with quick Milwaukee-themed costumes GUARANTEED* to make you the hit of every party.

*Results may vary.

This could be you!

Bronze Fonz (w/ optional fan) – Ayy! All you need to transform into the RiverWalk’s #1 selfie destination is a pair of jeans, a leather jacket and two thumbs. Varsity costume-wearers might want to dip into some bronze face paint to take this look to the next level. This is easily transformed into a couples’ costume: just have your partner ready with a cellphone and their best thumbs-up to complete the pairing as a selfie-taking fan.

Hank the Dog – This is the cutest possible option. Get yourself some Brewers gear (which you probably already own), make dog ears out of felt and you’re good to go! A little creative face painting will go a long way with this one. Everyone is going to want to take pictures with you and buy things with your face on them.

The Calling – Want to stir up some drama at your Halloween shindig? Just dress up as Milwaukee’s most controversial sculpture, The Calling, aka the sunburst, aka the big orange metal asterisk at the end of Wisconsin Avenue. Dress all in orange, and be prepared to stand with your arms and legs outstretched as wide as possible whenever someone asks who you are.

Frederick Miller – Show your historical chops by dressing up as one of the icons of Milwaukee’s brewing heritage. If you’ve seen his hologram, you know all you need is a convincingly old-timey suit and a sweet goatee. Carry around a bottle of beer for additional verisimilitude (you’d be doing that anyway, right?). This costume could also easily be “zombiefied,” if you want to show off your gorey makeup skills.

Racing Sausages – The perfect group costume! Getting the full gang together would be great, but if you don’t have the full five, it’s easy enough to act like your missing sausages are seriously losing this race. This could easily be a very in-depth DIY project if you choose to manufacture yourself a sausage costume, but you could also dress up in each sausage’s relatively simple outfit. I don’t think anyone would blame you.

The Gaslight Building – This one is simple with a show-stopping accessory. Any outfit (ideally one that’s orange-y brown in color) becomes an instant costume when topped with that awesome flame. You could easily adapt a tutorial for creating the classic Sims plumbob (the floating green diamond) into this shape. Choose which weather you’d like to forecast, and you’re ready to go! (If you really wanted to go for it, this would be the perfect time to deploy a color-changing LED light.)

As autumn transitions from knocking on the calendar's door to making itself at home, and produce variety starts to taper off, it’s easy to think that things might cool down on Milwaukee's dining front. Far from it.

Richness abounds, and our great restaurants, craft brewers and cocktail-mixing folks are kicking into high gear as they switch menus and embrace the season. There is still, in fact, plenty coming from farmers’ fields at this time of year, and the cooler weather’s bounty is making its way into many of Milwaukee's culinary offerings.

One could happily wear themselves out, working their way across Milwaukee, sampling the exquisite cocktails made with Great Lakes Distillery's silver medal-winning Pumpkin Spirit. Hi-Hat, Black Sheep, and Café Lulu are some of my favorite imbibing spots around the city, whose cocktails do justice to Great Lakes’ seasonal spirit.

If your penchant leans toward beer, order a cheekily named Sasquatch from Milwaukee Brewing Co., easily found on tap handles across the city. What began as a home brew by one of Milwaukee Brewing Co.'s team now takes shape by way of700 pounds of pumpkins and 400 pounds of sweet potatoes, plus a variety of specialty malts. Flavor notes of pumpkin and cinnamon make it a great fall brew.

Should you wish to stay on the beer bent, swing into Benelux Café or any of the other Lowland's cafés or restaurants. Take a moment to raise a glass to the owners, both of whom have been knighted (yes, knighted) by the Belgian Knighthood of the Brewers’ Mashstaff and just recently returned from their trip to Amsterdam. The knighthood is an honor bestowed by one of the oldest professional organizations in history, and something akin to a Pulitzer or Nobel Prize for brewers.

As any good Belgian knows, another of the world’s favorite indulgences is chocolate. Milwaukee hosts two renowned master pastry chefs in October. Le Rêve Patisserie and Café in downtown Wauwatosa hosts a seven-course Pour l'amour du chocolat dinner on Oct 21. Visiting chef Jerome Landrieu, director of the Chocolate Academy in Chicago and listed as one of the top 10 pastry chefs in America, will be partnering chocolate, course by course, with Le Rêve's superlative French cuisine.

Not to be outdone at the hands of chocolate, Shorewood's North Shore Boulangerie has a vanilla event planned a few days earlier, on Oct 19, with World Pastry Championship-winner Patrice Caillot and Dr. Ken Cameron, author of Vanilla Orchids. An engaging discussion between the professor and master chef on the history of the world’s most popular fragrance and flavor will be moderated by yours truly, followed by a cooking demonstration and samples.

If October is a precursor to the culinary escapades of the winter holiday season, I would estimate that—as a city—Milwaukee is gearing up for greatness.

You may have noticed the bright blue bike stations popping up around downtown or have seen news reports about “Bublr Bikes” bicycle sharing coming to Milwaukee. But you might not know this project has actually been nearly three years in the making.

City of Milwaukee leaders and a group of citizen advocates have seen and experienced bike sharing around the country and the world. Inspired by the international bike sharing evolution, our team set out to bring this innovative urban transportation option to Milwaukee. (In case you’re interested, here’s a list of bike share systems around the world.)

The concept is simple: once you purchase a Bublr Pass ($7 for 24 hours or $20 for a month) you can check out a bike at any kiosk to run an errand or visit an attraction. You simply leave the bike at another kiosk near your destination, and when you want to return or go somewhere else, you check out the same or another Bublr Bike. You can do this as often as you wish within the time frame of your pass. There are no additional expenses for any trip that is under 30 minutes. A trip over 30 minutes will incur small usage fees.

Bicycle sharing is simply another healthy and cost-effective transportation choice for residents and visitors to experience Milwaukee. It provides a great way for families or even a business traveler to get around in a fun and interesting way!

The Bublr Bikes kiosks are conveniently located all around Milwaukee. You can find stations at the Milwaukee Intermodal Station, Red Arrow Park, Schlitz Park, Cathedral Square, Chase Plaza, the Public Market, the 411 East Wisconsin Building, U.S. Bank Center, the Wisconsin Center and Discovery World. If there isn’t a bike kiosk near you now, never fear, Bublr Bikes plans to expand into other neighborhoods in 2015.

VISIT Milwaukee is an award-winning convention & visitors bureau providing information on premier events, hotel accommodations, transportation, restaurants and fun things to do in Milwaukee, Wisconsin! Experience the warm hospitality of Milwaukee's local businesses. We hope to see you soon!